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PM Orbán on coronavirus: This Operative Board will focus on protecting human lives

"No financial obstacle will stand in the way of combating the virus," PM Orbán said, adding that the number of people infected with coronavirus in Hungary remains at two.

Following today’s meeting of the Operative Board, the expert body designated to combat the coronavirus, PM Orbán confirmed that the number of coronavirus cases encountered in Hungary still stands at two. “Currently [in Hungary] there are 24 people in quarantine, and 230 samples are being analyzed,” the prime minister said.

Even though the coronavirus brings a double threat, in that it affects both public health and the economy, the prime minister said, “This Operative Board will focus on protecting human lives.” And to this end, according to PM Orbán, “there will be no financial obstacle to combating the virus.”

While the expert group will continue to monitor the situation and brief the press in due course, preventive measures in Hungary now have to focus on individual cases. “Our goal is that individual cases do not grow into group cases and then into an epidemic,” PM Orbán said.

“The protection of our people is not a question of party politics,” PM Orbán added, warning opposition parties against trying to make political gains from a public health crisis.

Touching upon citizens’ decreased sense of security in a situation such as this, PM Orbán explained that a sense of security will only be recovered once an effective vaccine is invented to counter the coronavirus. “Right now, such a vaccine is not available,” he said.

“For now, I ask for the cooperation of all Hungarians, even if the fight against the virus might incur uncomfortable situations.” PM Orbán concluded by saying, “We need to avoid two threats: Neither should we underestimate the situation, nor do we want to incite panic.”